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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24792886">Another Blossom Waiting in Bloom</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhuy/pseuds/Nhuy'>Nhuy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto, 碧蓝航线 | Azur Lane (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adoptive Sister Akagi, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Haruno Sakura, F/F, Fox Summons, I repeat: no harem especially Naruto's harem, Lore Inaccuracy, No Harem, Post-Midway, pre-Academy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:35:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,493</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24792886</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhuy/pseuds/Nhuy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She lost her beloved and sunk to the deep sea that day. And then she woke up.</p><p>Sakura was, maybe, the kind of person to stay in the background, like a wallflower. Akagi would make sure the child blossom like the Sakura Empire's blooms.</p><p> </p><p>Alternative title: Akagi's bizarre isekai adventure </p><p>(Short drabbles, updates irregularly.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akagi/Kaga (Azur Lane), Haruno Sakura &amp; Akagi (Azur Lane), Haruno Sakura &amp; Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura &amp; Yamanaka Ino, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Hello and...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Do you know Akagi is 180cm+ tall?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The girl who stumbled and yelped upon seeing her was the single <em>pinkest thing</em> Akagi had ever witnessed. For one moment, she thought she had sunk so hard her brain started hallucinating—but no, even after she wiped the grime and blood off her face, <em>pink</em> was still there. Unchanged.</p><p> </p><p>She was young, maybe six or seven or so, the top of her head barely touched Akagi’s mid-thigh. Shaggy, <em>pink of the brightest shade</em>, hair covered up her face and eyes, giving an impression of dimness. Her clothing was plain, nondescript, little chubby fingers bandaged up like the kid just put her hand through a rose bush with the grace of a buffalo, curling up against little chest and wringing her collar. Akagi could even hear the kid hyperventilated when she moved to sit up, pushing her sunken, badly burnt body against the tree trunk a meter behind. The bark was rough on her burns, it scrapped and irritated and was too uncomfortable—but she could take it.</p><p> </p><p>The captain of the <em>Kidou Butai</em> would not be fell by something so small as hard wood on flaming wounds.</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes looked around, taking in the lush forest, soft grass with dew, trees that were as majestic as the ones in the Empire, and breathed deeply, seeking out her most-trusted. She could always sense it whenever Kaga was near, the aura of burnt frost and chilled flame too distinctive when put against the backdrop of every other unremarkable scent she had ever known. Kaga was light on her feet and nimble in combat, complimenting her with all the grace borne from years of partnership and trust. Akagi wouldn’t be <em>Akagi</em> without Kaga by her side.</p><p> </p><p>The air was empty of frost and blue foxfire, echoes of chirping birds serving no other purpose than to give her a massive headache, on top of the pain slowly returning to her body. She remembered now, how Kaga had sunk before her very eyes, bare hands with slender, powerful fingers reaching for her partner; Akagi had tried to hold, to grasp, to cling onto her beloved partner and her brain had been overloading with <em>questions </em>(Why? <em>Why? </em>WHY? WHY DID THEY FAIL?!) and she had not been able to touch Kaga before the cruel sea had stolen her away like a sleeping belle, forever hidden away from the world.</p><p> </p><p>Then a bomb had detonated, massive chain explosions wreaking havoc on her body, and she screamed the <em>cursed</em> name, vowing revenge and retribution—after that, there had been nothing. There was nothing. And she woke up, here, on land, in a forest, with just the <em>pinkest</em> child looking down at her like a demon.</p><p> </p><p>And… she was still partly <em>on fire</em>. Somehow the blaze didn’t catch onto the wood, but she’d not risk it.</p><p> </p><p>The girl, fearful and brave like a little puppy, approached with the gait of a newborn fawn, peering at her underneath the shaggy bangs. Fear kept her body away, curiosity leading her by the hand to get closer, and the kid stayed between that indecisive line, wanting to walk and itching to run. Akagi almost pitied her.</p><p> </p><p>“Child,” she called, seeing the kid flinch harshly at the sound of her voice. The aircraft carrier really couldn’t blame the kid for reacting that way; eating a bomb on top of being chain-combusted wouldn’t make anyone’s voice sound smooth and steady like a singer whatsoever. “Where is the nearest water source?” Healing was her top-most priority and Akagi could only start by putting out the fire still licking at her form. Shame about her riggings—a two-hundred-something meter vessel was one pretty hard thing to miss, and as far as she could see, no steel vessel was anywhere inside the forest. She was essentially powerless and wounded, trapped in a forest after a humiliating defeat with the pinkest human ever born. What a day.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah…!” Tears dotted the corner of the pink child’s eyes and <em>Pink</em> took a step back, shaking her head like a leaf in the breeze. Even though Akagi knew she didn’t look her best right now, did the kid have to act like she was the devil incarnated? “I don’t know…”</p><p> </p><p>“Right, of course you don’t know.” What did she even expect anyway? This was a <em>kid</em> that probably ran too far away from her friends and accidentally stumbled across her half-dead body. Chances were the kid was as lost as her, or even more, judging from her age and general demeanor—which, came to think of it, was really, <em>really </em>depressing. How was she supposed to get out when her only guide was a little kid not even a third of her height? “I guess—"</p><p> </p><p>“Bu—But, if you want water, I could get you a bottle!”</p><p> </p><p><em>Adorable</em>, her half-alive brain cooed, wanting to reach across to slick the shaggy bangs back from concealing the child’s face, her earlier faux pass being ignored just because the child was simply too kind. To her, children like this one were her reason for…</p><p> </p><p>Right. And looked how that turned out. Defeated and lost her most beloved. Akagi was, for the lack of better word, <em>bitter</em>. Very, very Bitter, with a capital B.</p><p> </p><p><em>‘No use in crying over spilt milk,</em>’ her mind chastised, forcefully dragging her scattered consciousness back to focus on the problem at hand. Namely, getting to the nearest water body to put out the fire.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi looked at the girl again, seeing little peaks of <em>green</em> peaking out at her, flashes of fear and panic bouncing erratically on the chubby face. The kid was probably chewing her own skin because Akagi took too long to mope and didn’t answer her offer—which she intended to rectify, right then. “A kind child you are, but one mere bottle of water wouldn’t be enough for me.”</p><p> </p><p>“…oh,” Pink lowered her head again, biting down on her chapped lips and wiggled her hands, looking no different than a kicked puppy. Akagi fancied herself not in the habit of kicking puppies, at all. “I—I’m sorry, ma’am… I didn’t know.”</p><p> </p><p>Oh <em>kami-sama </em>why? Why did the gods above have this… <em>pinkest</em> brat be here and staring at a war-hardened veteran like her with such an innocent, helpless look—when all she wanted to do was to either sink to follow Kaga or mope with fire blazing around her?!</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing her sore, bloodied temple with a burnt hand, Akagi bemoaned her extraordinary circumstances. Waking up in a foreign world—because let’s face it, she couldn’t feel the thrum of the gods enshrined in the Empire anymore—with a broken body, without her full riggings, somewhere in a forest and being defeated, this time by a child.</p><p> </p><p>Was this her karma? It must had been. Amagi-nee-sama always said karma was something inescapable, after all.</p><p> </p><p>“It… is fine, child. Don’t concern yourself too much for my sake.” She tried to sooth the girl, feeling the obvious distress being exuded by her. She was <em>good</em> with children, but in her current state, Akagi was no different than a ticking bomb—she wasn’t sure what her own reaction would be if the child didn’t settle down. Time to change tactics. “However, could you point me to the exit of the forest?”</p><p> </p><p>“Um…” Pink hair shook when its owner glanced from left to right, seemingly indecisive between stepping closer again or bolting far away. Altruistic and polite. Or maybe the kid was sick of seeing Akagi trying her best to crawl up to stand on her own two feet and only wanted to help. “It’s that way.”</p><p> </p><p>North from where they both were situated. Okay, she could make the trek.</p><p> </p><p>Pushing with the little strength left in her limbs, Akagi stood up, her hand clawing into the bark of the tree painfully. Just this tiny action was enough to aggravate her flaming wounds and reopen some of the cuts; but she had to move on—there was no telling how long until the forest behind her caught fire from her burning body.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh—!” Suddenly, the kid squeaked like a mouse before hurriedly putting a hand over her mouth, specks of <em>forest green</em> eyes peaking through, wide and clear. The girl’s eyesight was directed at… “I’m—I’m sorry!”</p><p> </p><p>Her ears. And tails, now that the kid actually noticed them. Didn’t the girl see them during their talk?</p><p> </p><p><em>Ah, right, the bangs.</em> Someone really needed to give this kid a hairclip.</p><p> </p><p>“What is the matter?” Just to be certain, Akagi asked. Very nicely.</p><p> </p><p>“You… have ears…” The kid pulled her head under her shirt collar, shyly sending another glance at her extra appendages before mumbling, “…and tails.”</p><p> </p><p>“I notice. Are they weird?” This was her chance to gather some information—and the brightest, most shining spot of luck in this terrible day was the fact that she could easily spin the girl to tell her everything about this new, strange world. Despite the things that happened in her world, Akagi was still the advisor to Nagato-sama. Petty little lies and slightly intrusive questions masquerading as pure curiosity were par of the norm for her job.</p><p> </p><p>“This is the fir—first time I see anyone with it. No shinobi of the village has them like you…”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Shinobi? Village?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Well, she could pry more from the girl. “I see. Would you mind walking me to the exit, child? I won’t do anything to you,” she gave the girl her best (possible in this moment, anyway) smile, “promise.”</p><p> </p><p>Technically, Akagi only manipulated her with some harmless <em>inquiries</em>. Nothing much compare to what she did to her enemies back when there was a war to concern herself with. But the kid really didn’t need to know that.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh—um,” Pink nodded the littlest nod she had ever seen anyone (KANSEN or human) made, turning back to falling into step beside her. <em>Kami-sama</em>, the kid was shorter than she thought. “Okay, ma’am.”</p><p> </p><p>“As a thank you, polite girl, how about I introduce myself to you?” Akagi chuckled after catching her breath, the ache pounding in her head more annoyance than it was worth. The kid was kind, and she was feeling charitable (and was still Bitter from her defeat), as such, giving Pink her name was pretty appropriate. Besides, she couldn’t keep calling her as Pink or child. “I am Akagi.”</p><p> </p><p>“A-ka-gi…” The little girl repeated like she was trying to nail the syllables, wringing tiny fingers in her shirt. That shirt was going to fray if the child continued doing it. “Aaaa-kaaaa-giiii.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes. Ah-ka-gi.”</p><p> </p><p>“You pronounced ‘gi’… weirdly.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s just my vocal tic.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh…” She nodded again like some big truths of the world were just unveiled before her eyes, still rolling the three-syllable name under her breath. Akagi guessed her family or friends had tics like her own. “I’m Haruno Sakura… It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am.”</p><p> </p><p>‘Cherry blossom in springs’, huh? Fitting, considering the girl’s hair and eyes. Akagi let out her first laugh in this strange world, amused by her parents' incredibly <em>creative</em> choice of name.</p><p> </p><p>“Nice to meet you too, Sakura-chan.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. ...who is there?!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of course, since the gods were hell-bent on making this day as terrible as possible for her, they both got lost.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Really lost. Akagi was pretty sure the trees weren't supposed to be this thick if they both were actually near the exit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh my," she squeezed out the nicest thing her brain could think of, a Herculean labor in itself, and twitched her ears, trying to seek some kind of sound to lead them both out. She couldn't care less about whether she'd die or not today, yes, but the brat was too innocent and young to rot away in this dark forest. "It seems we are… a bit lost, Sakura-chan."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sakura sniffed and wiped at her eyes with a bandaged hand, staring up at her with pink hair still framing her face and green eyes, greener than the blasted forest, glistening with tears, dripping down the sides of chubby face and almost messier than her own self currently. Which, Akagi reflected, was almost improbable. No one could look more like a trashcan than a woman who just got killed and didn't die, in Akagi's <em>personal</em> experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm—I'm sorry, Akagi-san," the child hiccupped, mumbling through teary sniffles. Her little stick-like legs grinded down on a pebble half-buried under wilted leaves, contrite mixing with childish shame pouring off her small frame like a fine layer of mist, heavier than even the densest fog she’d ever seen on the sea. She suspected Sakura was either easily bullied, or didn’t have friends her age at all if she was so quick to say sorry and cry like this. “I got the both of us lost and—and I’m so—sorry! Please don’t be angry!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No, Akagi wouldn’t. Who could get angry at this little pink child anyway? She was not a heartless monster.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Many people had suffered much more severe punishments for lesser mistakes. Akagi <em>was</em> a monster, but she wouldn’t hurt this little kid.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not angry, Sakura-chan, so raise your head high now,” the wounded woman stopped in her laborious steps and crouched down, murmuring slowly in comfort. Her hand, after she checked which hand wasn’t on fire, reached over steadily under the kid’s tearful gaze to pat her on the head, dwarfing it easily. Humans were so, so fragile, unlike KANSENs. “It is but a minor setback, little one. Come, there is always a way out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Bu—but I don’t know where we are…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then we just need to walk until we find the exit, yes?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But the snakes and boars and bugs…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you afraid of them?” Akagi inquired, still gently patting the kid on her head and amusing herself with finding a way to slick the girl’s bangs off her face. She wouldn’t do anything to Sakura without the girl explicitly asking her to, but it wouldn’t hurt to imagine the kid with her bangs tied back. Called it a selfish desire whatsoever, but she wanted to inspect the girl’s eyes better—which, despite the little glimpses she saw, were the most peculiar shade of <em>green</em> Akagi had ever encountered—just like how Kaga’s eyes were the <em>bluest </em>of all the blue, deeper than the sea and brighter than the sky.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sakura pouted at the question—and wouldn't this be the first time the kid actually did anything other than staring fearfully at her and apologizing like a naughty student?—before she kicked the pebble away, mumbling in just the tiniest, squeakiest voice, “Yes, Akagi-san. Bugs and snakes… I don’t like them…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah.” It was normal for human, actually, to have a fear. And some KANSENs too, if she actually stopped to think about it. Atago was really famous, or if one was to ask Takao, <em>infamous</em> for her fear of ghosts throughout the Empire itself. “Then I’ll scare the bugs and snakes away for you. You don’t have to be afraid of them with me here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…really?” Sakura stared hopefully up at her. She reminded Akagi painfully of Nagato-sama then, entirely too trusting, guilelessness and indecisiveness tainting every single word she said; powerful and young, yet no more than a puppet to be spun and made to dance per Akagi’s own whims.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Long, long ago Akagi had thrown away the last few drops of guilt at manipulating her leader into a war—but this time, faced with another young child, a child who knew not of her traitorous crimes, Akagi suddenly felt shameful for being so callous towards another one. <em>That one</em> knew her and her sister and her lover for years, who allowed her time to grieve the lost of Amagi, who let her rise to power and fame, who trusted her guidance with the naïve outlook of a leader unreserved about putting the fate of her country in her subordinate’s greedy hands—who, in the end, sealed herself away in isolation, punishing herself for letting Akagi play her for a fool.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nagato was a powerless, spineless fool. This girl, Sakura, was not. She was just young and innocent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her hopeful look still burnt Akagi either way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes. Want a pinky promise?” Offering a pinky towards the child, Akagi made sure to keep a kind smile on her face despite the agony melting throughout her veins. Her poor back was killing her slowly because <em>kami-sama</em> she was sure that one of her ribs just poked through a lung with extra vengeance. A good cup of tea sounded so fancy right now—what she wouldn’t give for some serotonin pumped straight through her neurons.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The kid tentatively raised a bandaged hand and curled her tiny pinky over Akagi’s own, shaking the promise lightly. Akagi smiled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay then, Sakura-chan. Consider me your part-time bodyguard. Snakes and bugs won’t be bothering you now!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tha—thank you, Akagi-san!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The heat of the forest, because the gods hated her with a passion, almost melted her remaining braincells. The kid, with her shaggy hair, didn’t even look bothered—or maybe she was bothered by the heat and Akagi herself was too tired to notice. The aircraft carrier considered offering one of her <em>haori</em>’s tassels to serve as a temporary headband for Sakura—if there was a single tassel untouched by her sinking in the first place. The ones she saw on her left side were tattered like drags and the ones on her right side were missing, leaving behind gold pins and ripped fabric.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Didn’t the girl get itchy at all with it kept poking into her eyes like that? Akagi knew she would impulsively chop her own hair off if she was in the girl’s shoes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Aka—Akagi-san, may I ask you a question?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh?” Akagi acknowledged. <em>Awfully curious now, are we?</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Um… where are you from? You… really don’t look like you are from Konoha and,” Sakura intertwined her fingers in another, nervous and childlike expectance visible in her gestures. “And… you have tails and ears… They are so…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Weird?” She offered, knowing that humans were always wary of KANSEN back in the Empire.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Um—soft, I mean.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Oh ho?</em> So she was <em>that type</em> of kid.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Akagi wasn’t looking like the poster girl of KANSEN softness right now. Being bloody and bruised did that to people. “You want to touch my tails?” Because of course little kids loved to curl up in her and Kaga’s tails. There was an occasion, she remembered, when Kaga was buried under the Mutsuki-class children while they slept, rolling up in little fluff balls in Kaga’s white tails. Houshou even took <em>pictures</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I—um, no…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right. No.” Akagi gave little Sakura a <em>look</em>. “How about we get out of this forest, I’ll take a bath and you can fluff my tails however you want. Sounds good, Sakura-chan?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“REA—Ah!” Sakura yelped and did a little giddy jump. Then she stopped, cleared her throat and grinned the kind of grin that looked like she was trying not to grin. It didn’t work at all on her chubby little face, if Akagi was being honest with herself. “I, I can touch them?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sure. Just let me wash the dirt and grime off first.” And put out the fire still burning on her body because, ouch, it was hot enough here without the additional heat stacking on top of it. “The fur will be matted if not properly taken care of. You won’t find my tails so soft to touch then.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sakura nodded sagely—Akagi doubted whether the girl knew what matted fur looked like, but she’d entertain her. The kid was still a bit too tame—but it was reassurance, somewhat, to know the girl had some spunk hidden somewhere underneath her hair. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>And speaking of which— "Hm. Sakura-chan?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, Akagi-san?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you, hm,” Akagi shoved a twig out of her way with one single push of her leg, hearing a bone somewhere cracking with the motion. Probably the femur. <em>Ouch.</em> “Do you want me to tie your hair back?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If push came to shove, she could just cut a strip off her <em>haori</em>’s sleeves to bundle the pink hair up cleanly. Or maybe slipping the red string embedded on the shoulder fabric up to do the job. Her steel hairclips wouldn’t though, they were too heavy for the girl.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s okay, Akagi-san. Um—I really don’t like pulling my hair up anyway…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Akagi wanted to ask more, but the kid seemed closed off about this subject. <em>Shy</em>, more like. If she knew anything from watching Houshou’s job as part-time nanny for the Empire kids, big, <em>big</em> chances that the children Sakura’s age were bullying her because of her hair. Or maybe her forehead? The kid did hide it under the bangs after all. “Ah. If you change your mind, tell me. I’ll give you something to tie it up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you, Akagi-san.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Polite child you are,” Akagi chuckled. Her strides were far too long for Sakura to catch up, despite Akagi’s current slowness. The girl kept jumping demurely over branches and leaves, finding a kind of entertainment within their shared circumstances. She seemed calmer compare to her earlier fearfulness; maybe a result from their little promise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A particular sound tickled her ear and Akagi abruptly stopped, jerking Sakura from her almost jump to bump right into her right hips. She really didn’t need enhanced hearing to know her poor hip bone just got wrecked, again—but she kept Sakura steady with a hand on her tiny shoulder, glancing around the dark canopy, sniffing the air for good measure. A good whiff of a scent could go a long way in identifying the animal approaching them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sakura inhaled sharply when she pulled the child closer, partly covering her form with her tails. Somehow, she could sense something was staring at them both; it was the specific pressure of a pair of eyes boring holes into the back of her neck. Sakura kept herself quiet without Akagi told her to do so.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One minute, then two, then ten passed without a single movement from them. Little Sakura was really brave, holding in her breath and letting it out in intervals of twenty seconds. Akagi almost dreaded knowing what (or who) made it necessary for the girl to learn to keep still like that. But the presence was gone and she lifted her hand up the child’s shoulder, inhaling deeply. The danger had left, for the time being.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were sitting ducks here, inside the forest. Whoever or whatever just stalked them would need no more than a single well-placed blow to fell Akagi and Sakura would be harmed. She needed to find a way out, <em>now</em>, before the child got killed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Akagi turned left and right, the little girl staying near her legs and clinging onto her tattered <em>haori</em>. Somehow, their surrounding <em>felt</em> different now. It was the lighter shades of the trees and the bushes, the dirt crunching beneath her <em>geta</em>, the moist air slipping on the tongue—like someone just unveiled a stage and rolled out the props. She didn't like the implication of this phenomenon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sakura shifted on her legs, rustling up the fallen leaves when there was a sound, almost indiscernible from the kid's action.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hm?” Twitching her ears, Akagi looked northeast. There was something in that direction. She strained her sense a bit more—</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Oh.</em> Wait. She definitely did hear something now. Clear, trickling, wet. Cool mist lingered in her nose.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Water</em>. They did it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Haha,” the aircraft carrier chuckled under her breath, finally pinpointing down their way out. “Come, Sakura-chan. We’re getting out of here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Akagi-san? Go where?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“To the water, I can hear it now. It is near, little one.” She patted Sakura on her head again, sensing the tension slowly bleeding out of the small frame. The girl was a brave trooper today—her parents should be really proud for raising such a courageous child. “Can you still walk with me there?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sakura nodded once, before she nodded again, a more resolute expression pulling over her face. The child reached to grip onto Akagi’s hand, settling into tiny, rapid paces to Akagi’s longer strides.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They both were going to get out soon. Akagi hoped she wouldn't pass out until then.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fickled things, wretched things, were illusions.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Akagi's terrible, horrible, no good very bad day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The stream was a small affair, limestones scattered in and out of the creak. The water, clear and cool, was the most peculiar Akagi had ever seen in her life. Up overhead, sparrows chirped and bugs screeched throughout the shade, singing harmonies that praised the nature. Even the earth seemed soft and safer here, cradling her footsteps with the embrace of a mother.</p><p> </p><p>A few steps ahead of her was Sakura-chan, the pinkish shade of the child’s hair unmistakable in a sea of green. They both were following down the stream to hopefully reach somewhere with human civilization within, trekking and kicking limestones into the water. Sakura even crouched down and dipped a stick under the sparkling water, making squiggly gestures at the fishes—in which Akagi sometimes had to keep a (now very not-on-fire) hand on the kid’s shoulder in case she actually fell down and got swept away.</p><p> </p><p>Nearly half an hour ago, the moment the stream had come into view, Akagi had started unlatching the red-silver metal belt and dropping the (probably) hundred-kilo thing down on the ground, startling Sakura hard enough to yelp loudly, scaring even the birds away. Akagi knew, however, that she couldn’t take her time with putting out the fire and soaking up to her heart’s content when the danger stalking them before may return any moment to finish the job—especially if Sakura-chan walked off during her soak and got herself harmed just because she was too busy taking a dip. As such, the aircraft carrier made one of the more idiotic decisions she’d ever made in her life: jump right into the creak with her clothes still on and crawl out in two minutes.</p><p> </p><p>The subsequent wash had been, for a lack of better word, no-joke the best thing in this horrible, terrible, no good very bad day of hers, even if it had been a two-minute business.</p><p> </p><p>The older woman fancied her foresight to throw her <em>haori</em> out of the line of splashing. The fabric, while heat-trapping and warm even in the coldest of weather, was <em>heavy</em> when wetted—really, really <em>heavy, </em>for a normal human anyway. To KANSEN like her, it’d be a minor inconvenience at best but she’d not risk it holding her down in the case she actually needed to throw hands with something. She could deal with her inner layers being soaked, yes, but the heavier outer layer with its billowing sleeves?</p><p> </p><p>No, thank you very much.</p><p> </p><p>(Come to think of it, that wasn’t as idiotic as her strings of directives during Midway. Years later, Akagi was willing to bet, there probably wouldn’t be anything more… stupid than them. Or more fatal. Or more harebrained.)</p><p> </p><p>Currently, she was thanking whoever was responsible for making the inside of the <em>haori</em> warm and water-resistant (not water-proof). The scratches and bruises on her body stopped hurting a while ago, not being aggravated by the continually burns scorching her limbs. The soft inner layers of her <em>haori</em> kept her warm enough, especially when she decided to not push her still-damp tails through the opening designed for that single specific purpose and let the long fabric flattening them down. Almost like how Amagi-nee-sama had once wore her clothes. Akagi had to consciously kept herself from flinching with the reminder.</p><p> </p><p>“Akagi-san?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Sakura-chan?” Akagi blinked down at the kid. Sakura was holding up a crack rock—or, what looked outwardly like a rock anyway. The girl had good eyesight to discover this thing lying inconspicuous here on the bank of the stream.</p><p> </p><p>“Why is this rock cracked? I thought rocks are supposed to be hard.” Tiny hands held up the cracked marble again. Out of the corner of her eyes, Akagi could see many more rocks similar to Sakura’s own, submerged under the clear water.</p><p> </p><p>Amused by the kid’s curiosity, Akagi smiled, affection that was once reserved for the Empire’s kids manifesting for the girl. She took the rock from Sakura’s palms and tapped at the crack, carefully making sure Sakura could see what she was doing—</p><p> </p><p>“This is not quite a rock, Sakura-chan. Look.”</p><p> </p><p>—and teared the rock apart with her bare hands, exposing the glistening valuable within. Amethyst. Sakura gasped in wonder.</p><p> </p><p>“It is almost an analogy to people. Listen to me carefully, Sakura-chan.” Akagi murmured slowly, laying a half of the amethyst slab face-down on the ground and knocking its outer surface with a knuckle. She reared back, breathed in deeply, and slammed her hand down in a karate chop, splitting the half in quarters. The child was too busy being mesmerized by her action to let out a sound. “People hide what they truly are under a veneer. Like this rock, some people may look unsightly by your standard but deep inside them, there is genuine value just waiting to be cracked open.”</p><p> </p><p>One of the newly-cracked quarter was then given to Sakura, with the girl holding it fervently.</p><p> </p><p>“However, there are also people who are beautiful and charismatic. I could safely say that many of them are as rotten inside as rocks without crystals. This is why, Sakura-chan, that you should not trust people from their appearances alone,” she finished, letting a few empty minutes pass to settle the impromptu lesson. She didn’t hope for much, but it’d do Sakura-chan some good to not trust everyone she met—namely, <em>her</em>.</p><p> </p><p>“I—I understand, Akagi-san. Thank you very much for teaching me.” Sakura smiled up at her, blinding and delighted with her new treasure. The older woman was pretty much in doubt whether the kid truly comprehended the things she just said, but she could let it slide. Children like her were beautiful because they were innocent, peering up at the cruel world with such wondrous enjoyment—but it would have been nice if the girl didn’t trust a monster like her in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>“But, Akagi-san?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” Cracking the remaining half into quarters, the aircraft carrier debated whether she should stick her fingers inside to crack a few pieces of the crystal. The little kid would probably scream if she saw her doing that, however.</p><p> </p><p>“I think Akagi-san is both beautiful outside and inside!” A bright grin of gratitude, happy and warm like the spring, was aimed at her. Akagi’s heart virtually stopped again for a second there, battered by the absolute guilelessness the girl could dish out like potato. She was a war-hardened veteran with many flavors of being a psychopath, for <em>kami-sama</em>’s sakes, not Houshou-san and her renowned love for children!</p><p> </p><p>But to burst Sakura’s nonexistent bubble? “I…” She didn’t have the heart to do it. “Thank you kindly. You too, Sakura-chan.” Even if she needed to act not like a murderous monster a bit longer, she would.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura just giggled and continued to inspected the amethyst inside and out, <em>ooh </em>and <em>ahh</em> all the while. The stream they both were following was trickling eastward, the thinning trees assured Akagi of their correct course. Overhead, sparrows screeched and chased eachother throughout the shade.</p><p> </p><p>Soon.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There was a rustling sound from a bush to their right and a white fox poked its head out, gingerly stepping its dainty foot through the green grass. Sakura squealed in adoring wonder and trekked slowly forward to approach the animal.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi almost cried out Kaga’s name before noticing the red markings on the fox’s ears and tails. <em>Tails,</em> as in plural. Her hand came down on Sakura’s shoulder to pull the girl behind her back, glaring straight at the approaching <em>enemy</em>—because multiple-tailed foxes heralded nothing good, mythically and realistically. The kid inhaled, sharp and tensed, before thankfully staying silent.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The fox’s eyes were red and gold mixing together like sunset, giving a stare that was thousands of years’ worth in weight, rooting them both in place. There was a growing feeling of <em>something</em> in her stomach, something that was definitely not fear because Akagi knew <em>fear</em> in its basest form, knew it even before she took up arms to fight.</p><p> </p><p>(Fear. It was seeing her sister bloodied and choking on her own blood, limp and unresponsive in Kaga’s arms. It was witnessing her sister taking her last breath, an expression of contentment on her thin, cracked lips. It was the visions of war and seas of blood and deaths of everything she had ever known and loved—Nagato, Mutsu, Atago, Takao, Houshou, Hiryuu, Souryuu, Zuikaku, Shoukaku. <em>Kaga. Amagi.</em>)</p><p> </p><p>But the aura the fox was emitting, suspiciously like killing intent, was closing her throat with its power. She was powerless and she knew it. Behind her tails, Sakura was shaking in otherworldly fear, trembling in place and dropping even her little treasures, hiding her gaze from the fox’s. Akagi worked her half-numb mind in overtime to calculate the best way to bring Sakura out, preferably intact during the foreseeable stand-off that would undoubtedly happen within the next ten minutes. She could pick the child up and dart through the tree using the branches—her legs were long, her gait was nimble, she could outrun a thing that was not even a twentieth of her height.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi pulled her body in, taunt like a spring, and reached a hand behind her to grip Sakura’s arm—</p><p> </p><p>Then the child keeled over, unconscious. The thud from her fall was deafening in the silence. Head whipping around, the aircraft carrier ran her gaze over Sakura’s stilled form once (there was a <em>needle </em>sticking out of her neck) and found herself locking eyes with another fox, golden furred and glistening <em>gold</em> eyes. The sinking feeling in her stomach grew more intense. Even the water seemed to reverse its tide.</p><p> </p><p>The growl from in front of her snapped Akagi forward to look at the white fox again, beholding the six white tails it was intentionally spreading out. If this was an intimidation technique, the woman admitted she was sorely disappointed—and it seemed the fox knew of her unimpressiveness, too, for it growled louder, throatier. She bared her fangs back and rumbled her throat, ready to pay an eye for an eye.</p><p> </p><p>The fox from behind her huffed. What an arrogant sound. Akagi wanted nothing more than to stuff the needle stuck in Sakura’s neck down its maw, preferably with the needle white-hot and scorching. She’d even make sure to do it, <em>slowly </em>and <em>gently</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Shadows, from the corners of her eyes, flickered and retracted, ebbing like rolling waves. The scent, the <em>feel</em> of the air changed again—just like when they went circles around the forest an hour ago. Birds stopped chirping, bugs ceased from crawling, the fishes disappeared. Her suspicion was correct.</p><p> </p><p>It was illusion. Powerful, <em>reality-altering</em> illusion.</p><p> </p><p>This world really wasn’t as simple as she thought. Sakura told her of <em>shinobi </em>and <em>Hidden Village</em>, yes, but not foxes with illusionary powers and multiple tails. Akagi was completely out of her depth and she hated it. She didn’t even know whether Sakura-chan was still breathing or not, rooted in place and tensed as she was currently.</p><p> </p><p>Something bounced off her neck with a clink. The woman knew, without even turning behind, that it was a needle in an attempt to hit her right over her pulse. She hunched over further and pull her ears flat against her head, tails bristling in agitation. The foxes could try their best but conventional weapons wouldn’t even leave a scratch on her body—if they wanted to knock her out, they had to hit her right at her already opened and bleeding wounds.</p><p> </p><p>She wouldn’t let them.</p><p> </p><p>Her legs kicked off, launching herself forward in a blink of an eye. Claws extended wickedly, Akagi leaped at the white fox—</p><p> </p><p>And its red-gold-sunset-dawn eyes were penetrating into her own soul. The sinking in her gut turned into chains that dragged her down. Tendrils of water snaked out from the stream and locked her limbs in place, midair. Akagi hacked harshly when a water tendril wrapped around her neck and tilted her eyes up—right into the eyes of another fox perching on the second highest branch of the tree to her right. Its eyes were a dark, <em>dark</em> red.</p><p> </p><p>The world started spinning. It was almost a forceful shutdown of her faculty, rendering her weak and pliant to capture. Resisting as she may be, there was something lingering in the back of her head, telling her to let <em>go</em>—but Sakura was lying there, helpless and young and weak and she couldn’t just give up when the kid still had families out there, waiting for her. She <em>couldn’t</em>, <em>wouldn’t</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Her arms jerked, ripping through the strangely resistant water to slash at the one choking her breath, dropping down on all four. Fangs shown savagely, Akagi darted straight ahead again, batting water bullets and water chains out of the air like swatting bugs, cracking amethyst and stone underneath her heels with the force she exerted downward. The white fox danced out of the range of her claws to run zigzagging through the wood, little metallic clinking reminding her that there was the culprit to Sakura’s state still standing behind. The needles were negligibly dismal in impact, barely even tickling her at all—but Akagi wouldn’t let that fox make such passes again, because a droplet of water per second over a mountain head would even wither down its height over thousands of years. She was the <em>Akagi no Yama</em>, the red mountain itself—petty little things like water and needles and <em>foxes</em> wouldn’t be the thing to harm her.</p><p> </p><p>Her legs sprung again, smashing the hard rock under her into paste and collapsing a large slab of dirt into the stream. The gold fox started to run from her but it was useless when her fingers already got a hold of its four tails. Blood spluttered out of her closed fist and she grinned a deranged grin, ready to rip the thing apart.</p><p> </p><p>Before the fox (black, so black it seemed to absorb the light) landed on her forearm and used its <em>seven</em> tails to cover the gold one. Its gaze, <em>red</em> like her own, looked imploringly at her to let its friend go.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi wasn’t very well known for her mercy to objects that harmed someone under her protection. The black fox asked for the wrong thing, and soon it would suffer the same fate.</p><p> </p><p>The landscape spun again, stretching and twisting like a child taking a sheet of paper to doodle indescribable things on it, and even the trees faded from her sight. The red eyes of the fox, still perched on her arm, glinted with a kind of light that reminded Akagi of Sirens. The headache came out of nowhere and pounded its fist on her temple with the scorn of a woman, tearing a hiss out of her mouth. Akagi gritted her teeth to hold on.</p><p> </p><p>Scents, of the green woods and falling leaves, of clear trickling water, went away. Then it was the taste of tension on the tips of her tongue, the sounds of heavy breathing, the dripping of the blood dotting her palms. Her sight flickered.</p><p> </p><p>The black fox moved, finally, and walked up her arm. On its paws were tiny missing patches of fur, scars streaking across the skin beneath. Its ears were tilted downward when Akagi scowled a truly terrible scowl, meekly keeping its walk up her limb—up to her forearm, where it sat down and—</p><p> </p><p>Touched her forehead with a paw. Her sight was blank.</p><p> </p><p>The gold fox slipped from her grasp, landing half on its feet and half on its back. It was the last sight Akagi saw before she blacked out.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“This one. Are you sure you want her to be in our pack?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p><em>“She was, no,” the black fox licked its maw, eyeing the way the woman cladded in black-red gently explained to the pink girl the lesson about life. “She is </em>strong<em>. Very. Her power mayhap diminished now, but with our aid she could be great again.”</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“She doesn’t have chakra.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“That one doesn’t need chakra to fight.” It eyed the gold fox again, pointedly looking at the white fox playing around in the leaves. “We could sign her up in our pack and her spirit would find a way to make it work.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“That sounded very…” The gold fox hesitated, golden eyes blinking when the fox woman cracked the amethyst in quarters. “Ambiguous. What if it backfires on us?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“It won’t.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The white fox, with dirt covering its magnificent coat, chose this moment to chime in, “Why are you so sure?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Hm… I just know.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Very reassuring.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The black fox huffed out a little smile, “She is also nine-tailed. Nine-tailed, as you know, is massively powerful, like how the Kyuubi is.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I find it really hard to compare this,” the gold fox pointed its claws at the woman, “to the Kyuubi itself. For starters, she isn’t made from chakra.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Rarely any human is.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Second, she is not human nor a summon like us.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Was it her cracking stone with bare hands that convinced you of that?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“The sarcasm was heavy there.” Shaking its head, the gold fox stretched and yawned. Its maw opened again when there was no reply to the jab. “But I am very serious about this. She doesn’t look very stable too.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Hm, I am inclined to agree with my sister over here.” White tails danced when the white fox chased around, sending leaves flying everywhere. One even landed on top of the black fox’s head. “I mean, she doesn’t feel very… oomph to me.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Not even your sister is,” the black fox shook the leave off, “’oomph’ for you, little one.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“You know what I mean!”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes, yes. I know.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The gold fox affected a sigh, exasperated by her baby sister’s childish antics. “None of what we say will change your mind on this subject, isn’t it, Elder?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Correct. You learn fast.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Fine. We’ll ambush her later, near the opening of the stream.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I prefer the term ‘persuade’.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh! We are going to test her strength!” The white one yipped. “I can’t wait!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope this semi-fight was decent :'( I've never written a fight scene before so I'm super sorry if the scene itself was choppy af.</p><p>But on the bright side, plot finally made its debut. Akagi isn't a human, and in Naruto-verse, it comes with its bad and good sides. Bad being: no chakra. Good being: why need chakra when you can just kill someone by bodyslam 'em :D???</p><p>Temporarily, Sakura will be taken out of the story for a while, until Akagi gets her ass sorted out and has her riggings back. The question is: WHEN :D??</p><p>Also, as you can see, the foxes are original. Names are... undecided. Please suggest something cause my brain is fried :')</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Monologue of a flower</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sakura was seven when the girls in her class laughed at her and told her that she could be their friend if she picked up the toy ball thrown in the nearby bush.</p><p> </p><p>No one told her the bush was of roses. Only after her father cradled her in his chest and gently wrapped up her hands did she learn of the nature of the bush. Of its beautiful blooms and wicked, sharp spikes.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura made sure to avoid it for the next few days.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Near the yard in their elementary school, there was a big, big tree. Its roots punctuated the ground around its place and there was never any flower during the few years she studied within the school. Her mother, when Sakura asked her about the giant tree’s flowers, only laughed and said:</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“It has never bloomed ever since I attended the school. I don’t think anyone know what the tree is supposed to be.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>So Sakura, too, stopped expecting the tree to blossom. It’d be nice, still, if it decided to bloom.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There was a girl, blond and blue eyes, who studied in the same school as her. She was bright and glowing like the rays of sunshine that gleamed across the floor of her room every morning, like the calm blue of the lake near the big tree, like the gentle swaying of flowers in the field their teacher always brought them to. She was popular with many girls, even the girls who told Sakura to retrieve their toy, even the boys in the opposite class.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura wanted to be like her. She knew she couldn’t. Her hands were clumsy and her body was graceless. The flower arrangements she did never ever compare to the golden girl’s creations.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura wanted to be her friend. She also knew she couldn’t. The sunshine girl, unfailingly, would make fun of her forehead.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura, deep inside her heart, also knew the sunshine girl would become a great kunoichi one day. She herself wondered if she could do the same.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The little kitty that came to her was the single cutest thing Sakura had ever seen. Its gray coat was soft and smooth, tiny little paws were daintily skipping over to Sakura’s sitting place. It even meowed at her to be picked up.</p><p> </p><p>Then the girls studied in the same school as hers showed up—the ones that called her <em>forehead </em>and made fun of her hair and pulling her legs. They started surrounding her and poking, laughing. The kitty was ripped from her hands and threw to a bush nearby, a splitting yelp sounding from the poor little animal. They didn’t stop and kept on jeering, tugging incessantly at her hair.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up and pushed back the girl in front of her before dashing through them, gunning straight for the bush where they threw the poor cat in. The screaming and shouting behind her back still made her flinch, the fear of even greater bullying sinking into her being but she had to check on the cat, even if tears ran down her face.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The forest was dark and foreboding. Sakura shook in her shoes, almost turning back to run out, leaving the missing kitten behind. She couldn’t—so she walked, looking left and right, up and down for a gray blur.</p><p> </p><p>What would her father, mother think when they knew she ran off into the forest? Theirs was the <em>Village</em> <em>Hidden in the Leaves</em>; imposing trees, weaving plants and dark shades were the mark of Konoha itself. It was, while not impossible, almost improbable for a little girl like her to find her way out of the forest. Perhaps a passing shinobi would bring her out?</p><p> </p><p>She was not going to cry, however. Her mother had taught her to be calm and not panic during stressful moments; her mother was kind and optimistic, never guided Sakura wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Trusting in her mother’s words, Sakura forged forward.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There was sounds. Crashing sounds.</p><p> </p><p>She knew she should run away—Sakura knew it; yet her legs took their strides and walked, slow with undiluted panic, to the origin of the crash. Her heart thumbed madly within her chest with every step but something told her to <em>keep moving</em>, <em>don’t stop</em>. And she didn’t stop—</p><p> </p><p>Until Sakura saw a woman, cladded in black and red, bleeding everywhere near the base of a giant tree.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Akagi-san was, undoubtedly, the most beautiful woman Sakura’d ever seen in her short lifetime, even through the bruises and dirt marring her visage. Long brown hair, crimson red eyes, pale skin, a tall and dignified stature—Akagi-san exuded a quiet sense of power, gentle and warm like her father’s words and mother’s teachings. Yet…</p><p> </p><p>The glint of something much more sinister in Akagi-san’s eyes kept Sakura wary and careful. It was not that she wanted to be scared of Akagi-san, but her heart was beating madly with trepidation everytime Akagi-san looked at her—</p><p> </p><p>So Sakura just bowed her head and kept on walking, ahead of Akagi-san a few paces, cautiously maintaining their distance. Her parents would certainly admonish her for being rude but whatever that existed in Akagi-san’s eyes scared Sakura, a lot—and luckily, the older woman didn’t say anything, excepted their earlier interactions. In fact, it was going quite well, they even saw a glimpse of the Village through the canopy—until it just didn’t <em>go well</em>.</p><p> </p><p>They both, somehow, got lost.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Coincidence may Sakura's name and the Empire's symbol have been, the meeting, however, was not.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Flowers also bloom from sin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Time to wake up.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“—gi-nee-sama! Akagi-nee-sama!”</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes snapped open. The sky, the land, the sensation beneath her form were white. Empty. Then things started coming into sight; ceiling, lights, the papers cradling her head, the smell of tea. She jerked up—someone was calling her.</p><p> </p><p>“Akagi-nee-sama, are you okay?!”</p><p> </p><p>Kaga. It was Kaga. Her dearest, most-trusted partner, <em>Kaga</em>. Kaga, who was shaking her by the shoulder and rubbing at her cheeks. <em>Kaga</em>, alive.</p><p> </p><p>“Ka—Kaga…” Akagi gasped at seeing her beautiful Kaga, safe and well. She was still the same as ever, white and cold and ice given form, a frown lining in between a pair of electrifying eyes. Even the warmth of her body, hotter than her own, seemed like a dream. “Kaga. Is it really… you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Akagi-nee-sama…? What are you…?” White hair ruffled when Kaga shook her head, the worry painted on her beautiful visage filled Akagi’s chest with guilt. Her fair, wonderful, stalwart sister-in-arms, more than what Akagi deserved. Such formidable magnificence, such fragile exquisiteness—declared as Akagi’s own to command and use in a war made by her machination. “Please sit up. I’ll pour you some water.”</p><p> </p><p>Kaga stood and made to leave when Akagi darted her hand out to grip onto the blue-white billowing sleeves, stopping the white fox in her track. Something told her that, if she let Kaga leave her sight now, she’d never see her again. The thought of Kaga leaving her, even if just in conjecture, squeezed the breath of her lungs. “Don’t. Please, stay with me.”</p><p> </p><p>“…Akagi-nee-sama… I…” The little glint of hesitation within Kaga’s gaze, somehow, hurt her more than ever. Akagi knew she was acting weird, but the <em>dreams</em> of her hands reaching forever more yet never seemed to cling, to hold onto Kaga’s bloodied, sinking form were too terrifying to even entertain. She had to prove that they both were <em>alive</em>, breathing, warm and well.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi couldn’t live in this world if Kaga left her too. Amagi-nee-sama’s passing almost killed her—Kaga’s own would surely lead her over the edge.</p><p> </p><p>A hand, slender and fine, laid over the grip she had on Kaga’s <em>haori</em>. “Please, you need to let go.”</p><p> </p><p>She wouldn’t. “No.” She couldn’t. Letting go meant Kaga would be out of her sight, disappearing from her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“It’ll only be a moment.”</p><p> </p><p>“No.”</p><p> </p><p>“Akagi.”</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t.”</p><p> </p><p>Her surrounding twisted, stretched and bended. The floor beneath her form cooled down like ice. Shadows, perverse and distorted, sank their claws over to Kaga’s standing form. Akagi tugged Kaga forward again to drag her away from the shadows, but her lover was motionless, her face turned away from Akagi’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Kaga, please. What is going on?”</p><p> </p><p>She didn’t answer, didn’t turn back to look. Kaga never, <em>ever </em>ignored her, even back when they both were butting heads and screaming bloody murder at each other. <em>Why?</em></p><p> </p><p>Then the tendrils of darkness ripped Kaga away from her, seeping into her white-cladded form slowly and dissolving her before Akagi’s eyes. The specks of crystalized white, like the purest essence of Kaga, slipped out of her hands like sand—</p><p> </p><p>And Akagi screamed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>She woke up, throat still raw from screaming.</p><p> </p><p>Her hands were cradled in flowers. Spider lilies. They were stretching as far as the eyes could see. A sea of crimson—bleeding red like blood, soft like flesh, death and grief came together to dye the horizon in their despairing color.</p><p> </p><p>But she also saw amaryllis, dotting sparingly throughout the field. Proud and lovely, they stood out in their duller shade amidst the bright red lilies—like the rolling, twisting waves that she once rode on. It was beautiful, it was painful, it signified her losses—of Amagi, of Kaga, of her kouhai—of <em>everyone</em> she’d ever known and loved. Her pride and determination, like the amaryllis itself, would mean nothing in the face of absolute, crushing defeat.</p><p> </p><p>It was unlike herself, Akagi knew, to wallow in such misery; but upon this field of lilies and amaryllis, painted the color of war and blood, did she acutely <em>feel</em> the weight of her sin pressing down, choking the breath in her lungs. For one damning moment, regret almost straggled her with its vengeful fingers, like how Kaga’d reached out for her, like the kouhai that she’d sent to their doom—and Akagi bit down on her tongue, hard enough to taste blood, forcefully snapping herself out of the incoming depressive funk.</p><p> </p><p>This place was incredibly bad for her mental health, she acknowledged, especially if it only took no more than five minutes to collapse the very basis of her principles. Her vow was to never regret anything, back when she first decided to wage a war. To actually feel something like remorse after all of the atrocities were done and finished—it was the cowardly way out, it was the heinously irresponsible response that would do nothing more than invalidate their Empire’s sacrifices. Her sin was hers to bear, and turning away from it was the worst kind of insult she could ever give to the people that rallied behind her cause.</p><p> </p><p>The prone woman sighed deeply before temporarily shoving the unsightly thoughts off her mind, running her hands through the soft flowers. The sky above her was blank and grey, not even a cloud in sight. There was no sound; her inhalations seemed suddenly too loud within this empty horizon.</p><p> </p><p>Sitting up with a groan, the aircraft carrier rolled her neck, once, to get the kinks out. Somehow her wounds were healed perfectly and her clothes mended like the battle that sunk her lover didn’t happen; a curious, infuriating thing to be sure. She could also feel the tug of power, of foxfire and powerful engine thrumming beneath her skin, running through her veins like a warm embrace of old friends. It rejuvenated her, if albeit slightly, to know that she could somehow fight again. A flick of her hand unveiled a red plane tag, brilliantly dyed in crimson and could turn into a flaming weapon of war at any moment.</p><p> </p><p>Something was still conspicuously missing—namely, her perpetually on-fire launch deck. There was no big, two-hundred-something-meter long steel vessel insight—she couldn’t reassemble her rigging without <em>her</em> mechanical form presented. The feeling, the connection between her and the mighty steel vessel was still there, a reassuring weight on her body.</p><p> </p><p>So Akagi stood with a muttered curse and set off in the direction where her blood sang and pointed to.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kaga's loss would play the part of an open wound, bleeding slowly yet never closing.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The dealings of future</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let us negotiate.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Of course, she’d find her vessel half-sunk in a swallow pool in the middle of a wide, flat field. It got even more poetic when cherry blossom scattered down over the glistening steel from a very, <em>very</em> tall sakura tree. Akagi frowned when the sight of some… furry things sitting on the landing strip of her ship registered.</p><p> </p><p>A flash of recognition shot through her when the fox with its pure, deep black coat nodded (how in the world could it nod like a human?) and tip-toed down, dainty like a cat, before jumping off to land on its feet on <em>water</em>. It was, honest to all of the gods in the Empire, <em>walking </em>on water. Foxes, four-legged and long snout <em>foxes</em>, moving on <em>water</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi frowned harder. The seven-tailed fox kept on gliding across the clear water like hard ground, ripples from its footsteps were the only disturbance to the tense, picturesque atmosphere. It stopped, halfway to her position, and sat down, wagging its tails like inviting her.</p><p> </p><p>Something inside her whispered to hurt the fox, like how it and its two companions had tried to chain her down and stuck a needle into a little girl’s neck. She remembered how the <em>illusion</em>, because there could be no other explanation for the circling trip both she and Sakura-chan took through the forest, muddled her senses with the grace of a fine-tooth comb, heavy and thicker than her own steel hull. It was a terrible insult to <em>her</em>—the advisor, the strongest aircraft carrier in the entirety of the Kidou Butai—to be so terribly brought down by such a thing like that. The perpetrator of that mind-altering spell was now in front of her, so very in reach of her claws.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi flexed her hands, once, twice. The fox’s dark red eyes seemed like it was staring into her soul, boundless and old—akin to a wizened scholar. Many a scholar had once bowed whenever she passed by, knowledgeable and focused on every word that came out of Nagato-sama’s mouth. They were cowards, nothing more than mouthy generals who knew nothing but theories and what-ifs—they didn’t know <em>war</em> intimately like her and her girls did. She despised them. However…</p><p> </p><p>This fox, however, didn’t seem like them, even though its gaze was of the same quality. It probably was because of the inhuman nature of its eyes—soul-deep and almost bottomless, like the dark abyss of the wretched sea, like the all-seeing smile of the Sirens. Because she knew scholars, in the end, were humans, transcendent and prone to failures like humans were wont to. This fox was certainly not—and with it, Akagi’s hackles rose further.</p><p> </p><p>Her fingers just only flipped out three plane tags when the black fox laughed, booming across the still air with the mirth of something much larger, unbefitting of its tiny stature. The tensed aircraft carrier pursed her lips and readied her planes for launch when the animal shook its head, smiling a truly vulpine smile.</p><p> </p><p>“No need to be so on-guard with me, dear little soldier,” it said, full of delight for something so tiny compared to her—compared to the big vessel half-sunk behind it. Its ears flicked and drew her eyes to a pair of piercing through the pink flesh, twinkling when this place’s white light reflected off the golden material. The clear water shone with the magnitude of a white flame, revealing under it layers of jagged crystals. Disruptive and dangerous.</p><p> </p><p>The black fox continued when she kept her silent, eyes aimed away from its unsetting gaze to instead stare down at the sharp maw that the crystals formed into. “Do you know where you are? Do you know who you are?”</p><p> </p><p>Akagi hated it when people acted condescending towards her. She growled back, sending her dirtiest, most contemptuous glare at the animal. “Wherever I am doesn’t change the fact that you are very unwelcomed standing in front of me. Begone from my sight.”</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t answer my question, little one.” The fox bared its fangs in a cheeky (she thought) grin.</p><p> </p><p>“No, and I don’t care. You have no need to know my identity.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh? And here I thought you would be filled with so much confusion,” scratching its ears, the fox said with a voice full of mischief. Why in the heaven would this annoying creature like to piss her off so much? She honestly was holding in a pretty decent amount of irritation and curiosity regarding its motive. “If you want, I can explain something to you.”</p><p> </p><p>It was a trap. It had to be. “No. Leave me alone.”</p><p> </p><p>The animal blinked at her—and the surrounding seemed to twist <em>just</em> a little bit, enough to fold the fallen petals into squares and morphing her vessel into something that was not, could never be called, <em>a ship.</em> “How can I when we are both in your subconsciousness?”</p><p> </p><p>“Cut the crap,” she growled, fed up with the constant mindfuck inflicted upon her. It was bad enough to dream about oceans running as red as blood, KANSENs and Sirens alike lying motionless in flaming hulls, on jutting rocks, half submerged under the bloody sea—she really didn’t need more mysterious visions or delusions to come and wreck her mind further. Akagi, as a KANSEN and military advisor—as a <em>woman</em>—just needed a little respite. “Either you speak or I am going to skin you alive.”</p><p> </p><p>“How charmingly violent.”</p><p> </p><p>Akagi growled even lower before taking of her gloves, baring the sharp, steel-rending claws that were so well-know within the Empire. “Listen up, you imprudent animal—”</p><p> </p><p>“Haha, calm down!”</p><p> </p><p>“—I don’t have enough patience to deal with you and your roundabout, thrice-damned questions. If you have nothing to offer me then leave!”</p><p> </p><p>“Most certainly I <em>do </em>have something to offer you, little soldier. And I think you’d be very interested in hearing what I can do for you.” It said, devious and smug like an archetypically demon fox.</p><p> </p><p>Signing deals with Devils, however, was Akagi’s biggest mistake back when she was alive—there was no way in hell would she actually agree to any and all kind of insidious offers, not after being burnt so badly by them. “The answer to whatever deal you are offering is no. Speak plainly.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh? You think I am enticing you into signing a deal?” The surface of the lake rippled like having a stone thrown unceremoniously onto its depth. The fox perching on the crystal water was motionless, her vessel stayed half-sunk—and the cherry blossoms seemed to stop falling. “No, I have no intention to trick you. I am doing this for both your and my sake.”</p><p> </p><p>“Do not think me a naïve fool. No one offers help without some ulterior motives,” she gritted out, eyeing the undisturbed way the black fox endured her suspicion. But it was not as much suspicion as it was hard-won, hard-lived experience that she was talking about; everything had a price, some too costly to even be paid for. “Once again, speak plainly in front of me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh dear,” the fox muttered with a fangy grin, its tails laying limp on the water. She despised it, very much so. “You are very impatient, aren’t you?”</p><p> </p><p>Akagi growled in reply.</p><p> </p><p>“Very well. Seeing as I am trying to poach you, this information would come into your knowledge in the end anyway.”</p><p> </p><p>Something in the fox’s words caught her attention. “Poach?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, poach.” It pulled back its ears, dark red eyes blinking slowly. The white, silent atmosphere suddenly went gray, to Akagi’s continued consternation. Did the blasted animal use another illusion? “But we can talk about that later, when you fully comprehend this world and its strained social climate. Be warned, the things I am about to show you have all already happened. You can’t change them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, you damnable fox!” She yelled, making a dash at the sitting animal. Her feet had just only glided on the water when the big cherry blossom tree broke like glass. The mighty steel vessel that was <em>her</em> mechanical body shuddered with the mental untangles. “Do not sink me into—”</p><p> </p><p>The fox’s eyes burnt with crimson, like hellfire. It ought to stop doing her dirty like this.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi slacked and fell, sinking beneath the water. The sky turned dark.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There was, once, a land. Its soil was rich, its forest was lush, its animals were happy. Birds would fly free in the sky (like her planes, once upon a time), fishes would swim up and down in large streams, in small creaks, in rocky pools. Predators would chase preys in an endless circle of nature survival, thankful for the gift of life bestowed upon them.</p><p> </p><p>Then there was two men. They came with many people, war-torn and traumatized from a brutal war. Wide-eyed children holding onto their mothers’ hands, mothers with loss tainting their once lovely gazes, husbands who flinched at the slightest of noise—they all came under the banner of the two men.</p><p> </p><p>One man, whose demeanor told of boundless patient and kindness, who walked with reverence toward the giant, looming, lush forest. He asked the trees to part ways for his grieving but hopeful people, striding forward with a bright smile and ideals fit for a leader.</p><p> </p><p>He declared, staunch and strong like thousand-years old roots: “This land would be our village from now on!”</p><p> </p><p>The other man, whose hair was long and wild and blacker than the night, whose blood red iris danced with three black <em>tomoe</em>. He, with his mighty flame, scorched the wet, sloshy, muddy ground into hard, resilient land for the people, silent and dark like a shadow protector.</p><p> </p><p>He whispered, ebbing and tiding like smoke: “We will co-exist together, as parts of a whole.”</p><p> </p><p>From then on, <em>Konohagakure</em> was borne.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The clans all relocated from faraway lands. From desert, desolate plains to even snowy mountain tops, clans with powerful, unique talents (<em>kekkei genkai)</em> united under a symbol, co-exist as a higher coalition. There was the <em>Hatake </em>and <em>Inuzuka</em>, with their canine companions and wolfish tendencies, who hunted and taught the young to survive. The <em>Nara</em>, with their cunning minds and spiritual worship, slowly guided the budding village to negotiate and make peace among vastly different lifestyles.</p><p> </p><p>The <em>Yamanaka</em>, with their blank eyes and mind reading techniques, deterred many an attempt to infiltrate the land.</p><p> </p><p>The <em>Akimichi</em>, with their gentle nature that was so at odd with their most known technique, with a smiling face and a hungry stomach, brought disgruntled and awkward individuals together using their impeccable foods.</p><p> </p><p>The <em>Hyuuga </em>and the<em> Uchiha</em>—the clans most renowned for their eyes. They were powerful and numerous, spitting with conflict everytime they got head-to-head. All-seeing versus illusionary, precognitive; white eyes versus black eyes.</p><p> </p><p>The <em>Senju</em>, with their lifeforce and rudimental healing, headed by the man named <em>Hashirama</em>, friends with a man named <em>Madara. </em>They were the glue that made up the backbone of the village.</p><p> </p><p>It was peaceful, for a while.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Then the First War came. Along, after that, the Second also arrived. Differed desires and ideals led to no peace between great powers.</p><p> </p><p>A friendship, borne from opposing clans and forged through bloodshed, was severed throughout those years.</p><p> </p><p>Then the Third War broke out. Tensions bubbling beneath the very foundation of <em>Konohagakure</em>, waiting and bristling for its due.     Orphans and traumatized children, women, men shaped the very foundation of the current world’s politics.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Seven years ago, on the tenth night of the month October, the <em>bijuu </em>(named <em>Kyuubi no Kitsune</em>) was unleashed upon the village in an act of cruelty. It (the strongest, eldest of the tailed foxes) wreaked havoc upon innocence human, burnt and crumbled through mortar and armor like slipping sand. It was almost unstoppable.</p><p> </p><p>Almost. The love that parents harbored for their child was, <em>always</em>, greater than hatred.</p><p> </p><p>The eldest, split in two halves that were <em>Yin</em> and <em>Yang</em>, was sealed within a babe and a dead man, for they were afraid of its great might. Left behind after its rage was snuffed was debris and loss, too heavy to count.</p><p> </p><p>From then on, tension mounted even further.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>From her position within an enclosed sphere, Akagi observed, silent and pensive. The events that were recounted throughout the last two hours were nothing new in her eyes—war was something she <em>knew</em>, deep in her bones, intimately. The loss of lives, too, didn’t faze her composure, even though the trauma and pain were flashing back and forth in front of her eyes like a roll of stuttering black-and-white film.</p><p> </p><p>She was an aircraft carrier. For everytime she launched an attack, uncountable numbers of lives would be forfeit. If the black fox wanted to flick at her heart strings, it would be the wiser to use something else other than broken dreams and shattered hopes.</p><p> </p><p>“How intriguing.” Akagi deadpanned to the fox sitting beside her, aiming a frown down to express the displeasure building up inside her mind. This annoying thing brought her here just to witness this? “Anything else?”</p><p> </p><p>It blinked up at her, dark red eyes gleaming in surprise before dimming. “I could say the same to you, little soldier. You have seen the blood and pain that the people of this village suffered, yet you are unfazed.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why should I care?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because you were treating that little Sakura child very kindly. She was a part of this village too, borne no more than seven months before the <em>Kyuubi</em> attack.”</p><p> </p><p>“She was polite. Any polite and good child should be rewarded.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is that so? I was under the impression that she reminded you of someone you once knew.” It licked its paws, draping all seven of its tails to the right, the tone it was affecting was disproportionated to the levity of the conversation.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi clenched her jaw. “Nonsense,” she grunted out, a slither of discomfort crawling up her spine at the almost accurate guess. She had to cut this short. “Come out and say it. No one went through this much effort without seeking for proper recompence.”</p><p> </p><p>The stilled images of plainly dressed villagers and armed-to-the-teeth <em>shinobi</em> abruptly broke down, leaving behind a blank, desolate scape. The bubble that covered them both slowly dissolved like soap, landing her in a crouch and the fox on its legs.</p><p> </p><p>“You are willing to listen to me now,” it smiled, sitting down with its back arched up. The silence of the wide, empty space echoed its words like judgement. “Very well. As said before, I want to poach you.”</p><p> </p><p>Akagi breathed out and stayed mum.</p><p> </p><p>“With the loss of our eldest, we grew weak in the years that passed. Decades of stigmatization and bias led to our gradually dismissing presence in the <em>shinobi</em> world, borne from the horrors of our eldest’s hands. Obscuration was the natural result of such.” It elaborated, steady like streams of water. Its tails laid limp, unmoving in the face of such important discussion. The animal form struck the blank space like a blotch of ink, standing out and demanding notice. “In the last thirty years, we haven’t seen a new summoner ever since our last passed away, carrying with her the Fox Summoning Pact. In this changing time, we need to establish ourselves as not foes to the greater powers, but we should not fade away in obscurity either.”</p><p> </p><p>The aircraft carrier hummed, turning the words over in her mind and picking it apart. “You can’t have both, fox. Establishing yourself as a player, no matter how minor you are, would brand you as an enemy in many a powerful, greedy man’s eyes. You either choose to fade away, waiting for another to come upon you in accident, or contenting yourself with navigating the world with enemies waiting for you after every corner.”</p><p> </p><p>The fox sighed, nodding at her words. “We have already considered it, many times throughout the years. But this time, we fear that we can’t remain ignorant any longer.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why didn’t you act sooner?” Akagi murmured, already knowing the answer to her own question. Her hands clenched at her black <em>haori</em>, wrinkling the expensive, durable material.</p><p> </p><p>The animal—<em>no, </em>the summon entity stared deep into her eyes, unblinking; its dark red eyes seemed like it could dig into her soul. “Because we were weak. All summon animal needs a leading entity, largest and most powerful, to stand at the helm of the pact. We once had <em>Kyuubi no Kitsune</em>, its power bleeding onto us to enable our kind to do many things exceeding our abilities. We didn’t need a pact leader, at that time.”</p><p> </p><p>“And with the <em>Kyuubi</em> being sealed away…”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes. Our powers diminished, scorned by our connection to the <em>bijuu</em> and shun by many for our weaken disposition. Without a pact leader exerting their competency in combat, not many <em>shinobi</em> sought us out to sign the contract.” The whispered admission, even with its low volume, seemed to tremble the fabric of space within this blank enclosure. It inhaled, then exhaled in a measured motion. “We were powerless to change the situation, as such, for a long time we were resigned to live with it. Until the night of the <em>Kyuubi </em>attack.”</p><p> </p><p>“What changed?” She asked, curious. There was a voice whispering to her to not trust anything the fox said; but considering her track record…</p><p> </p><p>And the fox’s story sounded more reasonable than the Siren, anyway.</p><p> </p><p>“The attack was deliberate, as an attempt to destabilize the village and fanning the flame of conflict.” It continued, ears drooping down and trodden. “In that single night, the Fourth <em>Hokage</em> and his wife, the <em>jinchuuriki </em>of the <em>Kyuubi,</em> passed away in an obviously planned attack, right at the moment of the two being at their most vulnerable. He was a kind man and his wife was just, they would have led <em>Konoha</em> into prosperity.”</p><p> </p><p>Tucking a lock of hair behind her human ears, Akagi muttered at the sad look the fox was wearing, “You sound like you respect him. Or respect anyone in the village in general. Didn’t they settle on your land?”</p><p> </p><p>“They did. But Hashirama had once kowtowed and asked us to live together harmoniously with human, depend on eachother for nourishment. We respected his request, and subsequent Hokage had, too, upheld the pact. Konoha’s continued growth and development were in our interest.”</p><p> </p><p>“That sounded flimsy.”</p><p> </p><p>“It seemed so. But trust us when we said that <em>Konoha</em> is better when it is a whole, not fractured into pieces at the hand of a mad man’s scheme. We have no desire to see a repeat of the Warring States period.”</p><p> </p><p>Akagi stayed silent. A full minute passed. The summon licked it paws.</p><p> </p><p>“So you decided to take action, out of something resembling self-interest?” She inquired, sitting down and stretching her legs. Dealing with matters regarding self-interest and self-preservation was just right up her alley.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes. After that night, we started to look for ways to stem off the inevitable crack in Konoha’s foundation. The knowledge that the perpetrator of that horrendous attack was an Uchiha just made pre-existing bias against them heavier, and as such, can lead to a rebellion and a civil war within the village.” The black fox slowly stood up and glanced at her, tapping its paw as if asking for her permission to scurry closer.</p><p> </p><p>Akagi scowled but nodded slightly, glaring at a spot right beside her foot. The fox pranced over to draped itself there and half-way on her calf. <em>Annoying</em>.</p><p> </p><p>After making itself comfortable on her leg, the fox continued, “Lacking a pact leader and without a summoner, we had our paws tied despite wanting to help the situation. Left alone long enough, the amount of bloodshed within Konoha would be unimaginable.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then, <em>you</em>,” it pointed at her with a black paw, smiling delightfully like a kid receiving candies. “You arrived.”</p><p> </p><p>“And I am supposed to be your magical fix in this hairball of a situation?” Akagi sighed out, resigned at the prospect of getting involved. The situation was interesting, she recognized, not unlike the hair-trigger, sensitive political climate she once held power over. And until the fox revealed the benefits she stood to gain from this, Akagi would make no indication of interest within its offer.</p><p> </p><p>It picked up again, flicking its ear and wagging its tails. “Not quite, since it is a little too late to stop the avalanche. But you could impact the future.”</p><p> </p><p>“Such expectation. You don’t even know what I am capable of.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know enough,” the summon grinned, baring its white fangs to her, “to know a shrewd mind when I see one.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It's been a long time since I did a deep-dive into Naruto lore. As such, many creative liberties were taken during the making of this chapter!</p><p>Find me on twitter at @_nhuyyyy! it's okay, I mostly shitpost and complain :')</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Friends: Don't do it<br/>Friends: You are still sitting on a bunch of wips stOPPPP<br/>Me: haha Akagi adopts Sakura goes brr brr</p></blockquote></div></div>
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